The Beauty of Strength
by Links6
Summary: Shizuo attends a Ballet performance and discovers something he never knew existed ... for all Ballet fans... UPDATED!
1. The Beauty of Strength

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara/DRRR! or any of its related characters or themes.

AN1: Obviously we have Swan Lake here as the ballet used... meh. I was thinking Giselle originally, but it didn't go too well xDD

AN2: The thought of Shizuo watching Ballet was just inspiration at its best. I really love the idea of him having an 'artsy side'.

Expect the appearance of an OC! She's left without a spesific name, so that way it can be practically anyone ;) I know we ballet fans have a lack of _real_ Ballet-focused fanfics out there (_I'm not talking about parody_)... so I decided to write-up this one just for us! If you'd like me to do a ballet-request, let me know, Ballet is my lLife and always inspires me...so ... :DD

As with all my fanfictions, expect some major OOC-ness. I try to keep them as in-character as possible... but we can only stretch it so far xD

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_**The Beauty of Strength** _

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She's been balancing on one leg …on the tips of her toes… for the past minute. Her leg was lifted into a high arabesque, lifted high behind her in a perfectly stretched line complementing her arms.

Her one hand resting lightly on the shoulder of her partner is probably the only thing stopping her from toppling over, Shizuo thinks morbidly. He can just imagine the swan dive that'll transpire as soon as 'Siegfried' stands up or decides to sit down.

When her partner finally does move away, Shizuo's widen in shock as he watches her retain that position without waiver. When she finally does melt into the next position, Shizuo finally lets out the breath he hadn't even noticed he's been holding.

With a quick flick, she turns on her toes and rushes off the corner, ready to start her solo.

The blond couldn't believe his eyes as he watches her, seemingly melting into the floor one moment then leaping into the air with veracity. Her height of her jumps, the deep and supple bend of her knees when she chassé's, her gracefully held back the entire time of the dance. Even how her arms seem to melt effortlessly from one position to the other, framing each step.

He couldn't believe how effortless she made everything look. As if she could do this the whole day. He couldn't help but have the thought cross his mind, that, she probably could do this the whole day. She made it seem as easy as breathing. As if anyone could do it.

But, he knows for a fact how difficult static strength is, how much training and pain goes into building to that level of physical ability. If anybody knows, it's him.

Shizuo keeps his eyes trained on the brunette as she finishes off with a perfectly balanced triple pirouette before falling into her final pose. Her arms slowly unfold into a full port de bras as the last bars of the music fade out.

He can't even bring himself to applaude the Second Act. He just sits, head still tilted and a quizzical expression on his face, as he watches the curtain come down.

He replays the final moments of the scene over and over in his head. How dynamic each of her movements were, how controlled they were.

And, then, he felt himself grow strangely jealous.

Jealous of how she could control her strength, and apply it in degrees when she needed. Jealous of how she could use raw power to create such an art. Jealous of how her strength was so beautiful, where his was…

"Oh…. Hi! You're Shizuo Heiwajima, aren't you?" a bright female's voice came from next to him.

He frowns instinctively, already on the defence, before looking over. He stares for a few moments, blinking, before recognizing the woman in front of him, "You…"

"You work with Tom, right?" the woman asks, still leaning forwards with interest, "I haven't seem him here in a while, how is he?"

"He's fine…" Shizuo answers automatically, still dumbstruck.

"... uh... _Are you okay?"_ she asks, tilting her head and smiling. Her lips were still painted a soft pink, her the rest of her dark make-up had been removed. He could see the shimmer of glitter on her hands and neck from the remants of stage-make-up. Her hair was still pinned back and tied into a bun at the back of her head. She was actually even prettier up-close.

"I'm fine," he grumbles and finally looks away, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the next act?".

"We have a half-hour interval," she says and adjusts the nape of the large trench-coat she's wearing, "I thought I might stop by when I saw you decided to stay in the auditorium… I thought you might be lonely."

He blushes furiously and scoffs, but that doesn't seem to deter her much, "You should really try the hors d'ouvres they serve here… I'm not really a fan of salty snacks, but the whole crew loves them… I guess it's worth a try," she continues on.

"Why're you here?" he repeats with a grumble. It's not that he's not interested, or that he doesn't like her… but he's learned the hard way to be cautious.

"I told you why. Besides, I wanted to meet you," she says with a shrug.

"Why?"

This time, it's her turn to look away with a blush, she bites her lip for a moment before turning back, "Well… it's kind of hard to explain… "

And, whatever reasons Shizuo had thought for himself were quickly eradicated from his mind when she continued, "You see… when you're on stage, it's hard just to dance for a crowd… so I usually look for one person, just whoever catches my eye, and then… I dance to them,"

A beet-red Shizuo shifts in his seat, covering his mouth with his hand to stop her from seeing his grin.

"Yeah… it's weird… I know," she sighs and leans back into the auditorium seat. The trenchcoat pulls up and the young man notices how her white tutu had been replaced with a black. When she spots the reveal, she adjusts the hem of the coat, determined not to let anyone see her costume before the performance.

"It's not weird…" Shizuo comments after thinking, he nods and continues, "I think… having a connection with one person would be much easier than trying to fulfil the expectations of everyone."

"Yeah… that's exactly it!" she exclaims excitedly, clapping her hands together.

Now, Shizuo isn't a softy. He's not a teddybear with a caramel heart and a damned ribbon tied around his damned neck. But when she smiled like _that, _for _him? _He was pretty sure his heart melted right then and there.

A sharp bell rings twice in the distance, causing the young woman's head to shoot up.

"Ah, well…. I have to go," she says and stands up, "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Heiwajima…"

"Shizuo," he quickly says, stands up and nods with a sheepish smile -which she returns.

"Right…. _Shizuo…_" she tests the name again. As soon as she turns to leave, he instinctively opens his mouth to stop her. When she does stop and turn, and she does ask him if there was something wrong, he wished –for the first time in his life- that he was Izaya. Izaya was the one with the silver-tongue. Izaya was the one who always had _something _to say, _something _to comment on. But, Shizuo _wasn't _a talk-er. He was a do-er.

"Ummm…" he hums for a second before noticing something, "Your coat…" he points to the coat, which had slightly opened, revealing the embroidery of the black tutu underneath. He takes a step closer, committing to memory how she just stands there expectantly, and adjusts the coat for her, "There…"

She doesn't seem to be affected at all by the intimacy of the moment as she looks up and smiles sweetly at him. "_Thank you_," she chirps and finally trots off toward the exit.

When he takes his seat again, he was left with a slightly depressed feeling. Since, well, he was sure that _he _was the only one who actually felt a connection in their meeting. He sighed deeply and rested his arm over his eyes. 'Why did I let Tom convince me to come…' he wonders, not for the first time that night.

Although... when the auditorium starts to fill again, and he hears snatches of past crew members, regulars and reviewers' conversations, like: _"What happened to her? … I just saw her… It's the first time in months she's actually smiling again…" …. "She hasn't danced like that in years! It's like she's a completely different person!" … "Did you see it? It was like half-way through the act, she suddenly just came alive…"_

…

Yeah. He wasn't sure, but…. Maybe he wasn't the only one who felt that connection after all.

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><p><em>Please let me know if you'd like me to continue with this fic! I really enjoyed writing it, so, I'll be happy to!<em>

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	2. A sidestep from the Norm

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara/DRRR! or any of its related characters or themes.

AN1: Obviously we have Raymonda here - the ballet used :)

Again, expect the appearance of an OC! She's left without a spesific name, so that way it can be practically anyone [I might change that later on in the series... but *shrugs*] ;) I know we ballet fans have a lack of _real_ Ballet-focused fanfics out there (_I'm not talking about parody_)... so I decided to write-up this one just for us! If you'd like me to do a ballet-request, let me know, Ballet is my lLife and always inspires me...so ... :DD

As with all my fanfictions, expect some major OOC-ness. I try to keep them as in-character as possible... but we can only stretch it so far xD

Also a quick 'thank you' to my reviewers Fiu and biancastefani, I really appreciate your reviews and comments. I really appreciate them. Thanks!

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><p>.<p>

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_**A side-step from the Norm**_

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She isn't shocked, he could tell. Or maybe she was, but she was just a really convincing actor.

"Uh…. Shizuo, right?" she asks after a moment. He nods.

She was dressed still in her Henriette costume from Raymonda. The gold and green intricate embroidery seems to fit her skin tone just as well as all her other costumes. She looked gorgeous. The young woman even still had her pointe shoes on.

"I could come back," he says and suddenly feels very awkward about standing in front of one of the Ballet Company's best soloists without even a lousy bouquet when her dressing room was filled with flowers, teddy bears, ornaments and cards from her admirers.

"No, it's okay," she says and holds up her one hand, "One sec?"

He nods just as she closes the door.

It's not often Shizuo would take a "chauffer" job, but this was a special favour from Tom. After this simple job he'll have a week off to go see Kasuka and catch up a bit. He really missed him at times like these. Kasuka was always thoughtful and would always think of stuff like: bring her flowers, remember to send a thank you card, smile more often. Not that Kasuka ever followed that last bit of his own advice, but he was usually right, so Shizuo would follow without question. He sometimes wondered _who _exactly the big brother _really _was.

The door suddenly opens and he can see the brunette was ready-dressed in jeans, a white sweater and most of her make-up was already removed, "Did I take long?"

Shizuo just shook his head, because he's not willing to admit that it was possible that she had some kind of time-warp factor on her side. Who else could change _that _fast?

"Come on in, I just need to take off my pointes still," she says and walks to her dresser. She props her foot up on the high table , "Just give me a sec," the young woman says and unties the knot to her pointe shoe.

Shizuo watches as she quickly wraps up her satin shoes with its own ribbon before dropping them into her bag, "Doesn't it hurt?" he asks when he notices several dark red spots on her feet –preludes to blisters- visible through her pink tights.

She looks up, tilting her head, "Does what hurt?".

"That..." he says, pointing to her feet, "It looks painful."

For a moment she actually looked confused, until she spotted what he'd been looking at, "Kinda? … I guess… the first few times… but, now… I only really feel it when we rehearse all day," she finally answers and unties the net from her hair, causing brown ringlets to tumble down from its restraint.

It takes her a few minutes to finally secure her feet into a pair of split-sole dance-sneakers, "They allow you to pointe," she answers Shizuo's curious look at her shoes.

Shizuo was about to stand up, but when she bends over again and retightens her laces, he stays seated, "Doesn't your feet need _some _sort of circulation?" he jokes.

She playfully elbows him and jumps to her feet, "I hate it when my shoes fit loose, it always feels like they'll fall off," she informs him and holds out her hand to him, "Coming?"

A bit surprised at the offer, but allows her to pull him to his feet. A strange feeling. Usually, in his case, the roles were reversed and he'd be the one helping everyone up. The small action pulls a bit on his heartstrings too, causing him to smile involuntarily.

"So, Tom's working mainly in Ikebukuro now?" she says as they exit the dressing room, "He moved from Shijuku?".

"For the most part, he-" Shizuo pauses when she waves to some of the other dancers in the adjacent dressing rooms when they pass by. He stays silent and takes the time to look at the chaotic background-nature of dance. It was a bit unsettling to see the backstage setting to such a pristine and graceful stage world.

She stops waving and turns back to him, causing a couple of the dancers behind her to giggle and whisper to each other. "I'm still listening," she says with an amused expression, "Don't mind me waving and yelling some goodbyes, I'll still be listening to you."

The young man sighs, smiles, "Sorry… yeah, well… he's working mostly in 'Bukuro now…"

"Hm… and you? I mean, last I heard he was basically a loan shark," she says and grins at the job title, as if it's a good thing, "So, where do you fit in?"

"I'm the … well… collector…" he says, choosing the words carefully. Next to a graceful dancer like her, it suddenly felt extremely stupid to be happy about having the job title of: Muscle. Although... her reaction DID wrangle a smile from him...

"Ah! The _muscle _of the operation! _Wow, that's so cool!"_ she grins and looks him over, "Huh, wouldn't have guessed it…. You actually look more like a bartender."

"I did work as a bartender before joining Tom," Shizuo says with an ironic laugh, "but at the moment Tom's business is taking a dive… the human trafficers are making his job hell.".

"_Trafficers? In Japan?_ …. I really am out of the loop then…I guess reality doesn't appeal to me enough to stay in touch with it," the young woman grimaces sadly.

"Heh, I wish I could escape it more often," the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You should join me in Ballet then!" she grins and jogs forwards and turns around, "You can partner me!"

"I doubt it," the blonde scoffs and side-steps her.

"I could teach you," she offers and keeps trotting backwards, doing small jeté steps to keep up with him, "It's not that hard."

A hundred of terrifying scenarios drifted through his mind in an instant. He smiles uneasily, "I don't think that's a good idea," he says.

She eyes him for a minute, considering the look on his face, "Alright," she sighs over dramatically and bats her eyelashes eccentrically, "If I must schlep through Ikebukuro, the least you could do is entertain me!". The young woman turns and waltzes on. A small développé, two quick steps forward and then a turn. It continues on and on in an almost rehearsed motion.

"You can walk normally, can't you?" he says, but it doesn't actually seem to be bothering him at all.

The damned dazzling smile of hers, "Where's the fun in that?"

They walk at least another block together before it hits him, the nicotine bug. He takes a breath, wondering if he needs a smoke anyway, he feels calm. He wonders if it had anything to do with the woman who is currently weaving her arm through the crook in his.

"Tom said to meet him at Russia Sushi later tonight. I owe him for covering the cost of my last two pairs of pointes. Our new teacher instructed us to rip out the soles of our pointes to 'get a feel of the floor'… I hate doing that, it feels like I'm desecrating art," she says and shakes her head with a grin, "Either way, Tom told me to forget about it, and just get him two free tickets to the next show… but I hate owing people money, and favours even more."

"Have you had trouble with -"

"No, no," she quickly stops his guess, "But, I've seen what this one guy's favours cost some of my friends. So, no, not a fan of owing anyone anything."

"Tom?" Shizuo asks with a frown, allowing her to push on his arm when she propels herself over a crack in the pavement. He can't help but smile a bit at her unquestioning faith in him, even when she barely knows him.

"Orihara Izaya," she corrects without missing a beat.

His smile fades.

He starts tapping on his leg, heavily irritated now. She noticed.

"Oh! I wanted to ask you something," she says, wanting to change the topic as quickly as possible, "Tom said you have a brother…"

Shizuo sighs, knowing what's about to happen. He finally gives into the habit and takes his cigarette pack from his jacket pocket, juts out of the pack and holds it in the air, "Would you mind?"

The young woman took one step to the side to get out of the soon-to-be line of smoke, "Right, go ahead," she smiles when he hesitates, "Some of the other dancers do smoke… It's not my kind of thing, but you can go on ahead. I won't mind."

She pauses for a bit before continuing with her inquiry.

"I never knew you a brother," she says with a laughs, "Although that does explain your personality a bit."

He blinks, absently keeping an eye on the smoke trail to keep it out of her way – it's just a courtesy, after all. Still, it doesn't distract him enough, he _really_ expected her to know of Kasuka's acting career.

Tom did know this girl, after all. Tom must've told her about Kasuka's career, how Kasuka's related to Shizuo. About their childhood, junior and highschool. Unless Tom doesn't know her that well… either that, or she just knew the basics.

"What's his name, what's does he do… wait… how old is he?" she asks and thinks to herself for a minute, "Is he younger or older than you? I'm guessing younger."

"How'd you know?"

"All older brothers are the same. Protective, strong, sweet," she says and suddenly blushes beet-red, "Uh… sweet… as in, you're nice… uh-"

"Heh, finally. I thought I would be embarrassed in this trip," the blonde says with a laugh.

"Hey! You're embarrassed by me?" she snaps, shocking Shizuo into stillness.

He slowly takes the cigarette out of his mouth, dropping it to the floor. He was about to intercept her, and tell her that he was joking, but when she narrowed her eyes dangerously, he stopped.

She suddenly melted into a smile, "Ha! I haven't even _started _to embarrass you yet!"

He smiled too.


	3. A Developing situation

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara/DRRR! or any of its related characters or themes.

AN1: Obviously we have Raymonda here - the ballet used :)

Again, expect the appearance of an OC! She's left without a spesific name, so that way it can be practically anyone [I might change that later on in the series... but *shrugs*] ;) I know we ballet fans have a lack of _real_ Ballet-focused fanfics out there (_I'm not talking about parody_)... so I decided to write-up this one just for us! If you'd like me to do a ballet-request, let me know, Ballet is my lLife and always inspires me...so ... :DD

As with all my fanfictions, expect some major OOC-ness. I try to keep them as in-character as possible... but we can only stretch it so far xD

Also a quick 'thank you' to deadaleta, thank you so much for inspiring me to continue with this fic ;)

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><p>.<p>

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_**A developing situation**_

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"Thanks again, Tom," she smiles and bows, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope we don't see each other again."

Tom Tanaka grins, "Yeah, company life's hard sometimes."

"But _so _worth it," she holds out her fist and respect-punch her debt collector. They burst out laughing and pools in some cash to cover the bill of Russian Sushi. Apparently, 'The food is good, the food is fresh,' comes at a pretty _hefty _price.

"Better get going, we have another Raymonda practice tomorrow morning. Our second show is in two days and apparently my 'assembles look like jeté battus," she finishes her explanation in a _very_ accurate French accent.

Both men blink when she starts laughing at her own joke.

"Hehh… ballet humour," she says awkwardly. She checks her watch and frowns, "It's late… uh…."

The pair of guys watch as she stands from her seat and grabs her wallet, "Well… um… it's late… I better… get home…" she frowns when she spots how dark it's become outside, "Umm… Tom, would you-"

"Shizuo's free, he'll take you," Tom suggests with a wink and nudges his friend/employee in the shoulder, "Right, Shizu'?"

Halfway done with downing his hot chocolate, the blonde looked up with a confused expression on his face, "Say again?"

"Would you mind walking with me?" the brunette asks, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot.

One more gulp of his drink and Shizuo stands, "Sure."

"Tanaka," Shizuo nods as he stands and walks over to join the young woman, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah…" she nods, giving a half-smile.

"Don't worry… you're safe with Shizuo Heiwajima. He's the strongest guy in Ikebukuro!" Tom says just as they leave the restaurant, "_AND! He's a real gentleman!_"

It's a while they walk in silence, the pair of them. That is, until…

"The hell's so funny?" Shizuo asks, suddenly feeling _very _self-conscious.

"Tom!" she says and giggles on, "He just… 'a real gentleman'… hahaha"

Shizuo shoves his hands into his pockets with a scoffs.

"… The slasher attacks are getting worse," she abruptly says and crosses her arms, "Luck can only get you so far. That's why… I wanted to you to…"

"What?" the blonde says, suddenly feeling tightening in his chest at the thought, "…were you attacked?"

"It wasn't really an _attack… _" she says, a lopsided smile on her face, "More like a … slash-and-run…"

"What?"

"Well, was in the park one day, middle of the day of all things… some guy just walked up to me… his eyes red…" she says and shakes her head, "well… I'm not martial arts trained, but I know how to avoid getting hit by something or someone…"

When she spots him sighing, she tilts her head, "Hey… you okay?"

He nods, absentmindedly lighting up a new cigarette.

"Uh, Shizuo, I-"

"Well, well, well… Shizuo-chan!" a nauseatingly charming voice says from somewhere in front of them. And then, he does emerge, almost seeming to melt out of the shadows.

She quickly backtracks on her toes, frowning deeply.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, FLEA!" Shizuo yells, his hands already in fists as he stalks closer to his enemy.

"Just checking up on my pawns," Izaya says, casually rocking on his heels back and forwards, "I do have a job, Shizu-chan, making a livi-…"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Shizuo yells, his eye actually twitching.

The young woman just stood by, quite content to be an observer. She zipped up her jacket and jammed her hands in her pocket, tilting her head as their banter went back and forwards.

"And you brought a date?" Izaya suddenly says, grinning, "Let me see… an Academy jacket… turn-out like a ballet dancer… oh! The spotlight is on the newest star of the National Ballet…"

She swallows hard and suddenly seems to completely change her entire demeanour, "Missed you too, Orihara," she says and smiles sweetly, "It's been quite a while."

"Not really, I saw your Henriette performance last week. Seems Saito's taking a liking to you," Izaya practically purrs, watching Shizuo for any reaction.

"Saito takes a liking to everyone," she counters, slowly and teasingly unzipping her jacket as she steps forwards, "Unlike you."

It's then when Izaya involuntarily steps back, his eyes narrowing. She was _definitely _not reacting like he'd thought she would.

She grins at his reaction, "Aww, come on, step a bit closer, I thought you said you love _all _humans." Crossing her arms over her chest, she chuckled confidently at Izaya's nervous reaction to her advance.

"Not counting individuals," he practically growls, regaining his composure.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me off-stage…"

"It's hard to miss when you're standing next to Shizuo –chan," Izays deadpans, shaking his head, "You expect everyone to know you just because you prance around in a leotard and tights all day?"

"No, and I don't expect you to still have all your teeth in-tact by the end of the year either," she grins self-confidently, a complete turn-around from just a few minutes ago, "But, that's just my personal opinion.".

Shizuo just stares at the pair of them, shocked and annoyed at the same time. She _knows _Izaya, right? She should _know _how slippery that piece of shit can be. Why is she still talking to him?

"Oh yeah? And why's that?" Izaya asks, his eyebrow quirking. He half-expects her to be self-confident enough to challenge him to a fight.

"Considering how you and that blonde guy fight… yeah… " she laughs and shrugs, "Vending machines are pretty tricky to dodge in alleys…"

"You annoy me," the raven-haired man states, turning on his heel, "_Have fun on your date_."

"DAMN YOU!" a scarlet-faced Shizuo yells, grabbing the closest object – which happened to be a metal trashcan- and without aiming, gave an almighty toss. Only once the object left his hands, did the young blonde's blood turn to ice. _She was in the way. _

But, it's like it was rehearsed. A quick backbend and a small _glissade_, and she was out of the way of the flying death-trap. Izaya, on the other-hand…

"You think he'll be okay?"

"I should just kill him right now, dammit!"

She laughs. _Actually _laughs. It was obvious Shizuo was still bristling, but nonetheless, he followed when she kept on walking down the road. The still night-air their only music.

"_Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! … shhhiiiitttt!_" Shizuo kept chanting angrily, finally ripping his cigarette from his mouth and stomping on it.

"I always wanted to see that up close!" she finally says, grinning and jamming her hands in her pocket too, "I heard so many stories…"

"You knew all this time?" Shizuo growls, already reaching for another smoke.

"…. Kinda… Well, in the version I heard, you actually had brow hair-"

"I dyed it," Shizuo informs her.

"Seriously? It doesn't show at all," she says, standing on her toes to examine it for a moment, "Huh… who would've guessed… well, anyway-"

"You must've heard a bunch of old ones, I changed the colour before I even went to highschool," he states and inhales his smoke.

"I guess so, you must've gotten much stronger then!" she says and smiles brightly, "… that's so cool!"

"_Cool?_"

"Of course, it's like watching the Nutcracker _Grand Pas _or maybe Mortal Combat… or maybe both combined_!_" she grins with a skip in her step, "I didn't think it was THE Shizuo Heiwajima on tv… wow, I gotta be stupid, who wouldn't have made that connection! Who else in Ikebukuro is THAT strong?"

"Simon."

"Who?"

"Russian Sushi."

"The food or-"

"Th-"

"Kidding, kidding! I know who he is!" she quickly says and laughs awkwardly at his exasperated expression, "… I guess it's a curse more than a blessing."

His eyebrows furrow and she knew she hit gold with that remark. It didn't make the realisation easier though.

"Is that why?"

"Why what?"

"You don't talk about your brother?" she asks and tilts her head, "Was your strength an issue?"

"I think it caused more problems than solutions in the end," he says and sighs.

"I see," she says and remain silent as they keep walking down the street. After a while of walking though, she finally nods to herself and turned to him, "I think he had to be worried. Your brother, about you. I think that's what caused the problem. Maybe he was really just worried about you the whole time…. Look, If you think about it… we're all in a job where there's a constant threat of being hurt."

He quirks an eyebrow, slowing his walk.

"If my partner drops me in the _pas de deux…_my career is over," her eyes suddenly seem so sad, "In your work, if you get mixed with a bad client… One gunshot can end your life…. You're not entirely indestructible, no matter what everyone thinks."

He wants to tell her _that _is the least of his worries, but he doesn't interrupt her, half out of curiosity and half out of understanding. It's like she could see right through him.

"There's a bit of helplessness that comes with every bit of strength," she says and scratches behind her head, "If he couldn't be there to protect you, or even help you…. Maybe that's where it all started…"

"Maybe… or it's because I petrified almost anyone who ever came close to us," Shizuo says and shakes his head with a laugh.

"You think you're scary? _Really?_"

"You don't?"

She's silent for a minute, her head bowed in thought, "Nah," she finally answers and links arms with him, "You're like my barre, I can count on you. You're a nice guy, one of the _very _few of them out there. And, as Tanaka put it so seventeenth-century: a 'gentleman' ….. _hahahaha_ … anyway, so, why would I be afraid of someone I can count on?"

"But-"

"Look, I don't care if you agree with me or not," she says seriously and runs her hand through her chocolate brown hair, "That's the way I feel about it."

"No… it's not that…" Shizuo says, a tentative smile appearing on his face from the indirect compliment, "It's just…"

"You want to get some coffee too?" she suggests, already dragging him backwards into the coffee shop they just passed.

"H-hey-"

"I think I'll remember that look on your face for the rest of my life – when you thought I was flirting with Izaya!" she laughs again and shakes her head.

"Well, you were damn convincing!"

"Of course I am. I have to be. How else should I play a character on stage?" she says and quirks an eyebrow, a spitting image of what Shizuo had looked like a few minutes ago. She suddenly strikes a pose, looking every bit as overly flirty as a highschool girl, she bats her eyelashes obscenely unabashed by onlookers.

The young man just laughs at that,"…. Touché…"

"A regular cappuccino and a –" she calls when she finally enters the coffee shop, for a second she turns to face Shizuo before turning back to the counter, and almost as if she read his mind: "large hot chocolate with cinnamon, please!"

"Hey-! We haven't seen you here in a while!" the young man behind the counter says, a smile appearing on his face.

"Hey Matt, yeah… I've been a bit busy," the brunette says and pulls Shizuo closer to the counter.

"_Ooohhh… I see! _Cute guy – he's your boyfriend, right?" Matt says, absently calling out other orders to the Baristas working in the shop "Explains the absence…".

"Uhh…." The young woman looks over to the guy next to her, as if looking for an answer. She finally looks back and grins cheekily, "…I don't know, yet!"

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><p><em><strong>:) and... that's all. I think I'll leave it up to the imagination from here on out... <strong>_

_**Hope you enjoyed it! Please drop me a review )**_


	4. Battement Lent

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own DRRR! Or Durarara! Or Shizuo... if I did, well, the world will be a very weird place LOL

AN1: a virtual cookie to anyone who can pinpoint from which anime series Rin comes from - and it's not Drrr!.

AN2: Battement Lent, means a slow-beating action. If you've encountered a situation like this coming scene yourself, you'll know why it's called this.

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><p><em><strong>Battement Lent<strong>_

"Didn't I tell you? Best hot chocolate in town!" she says, grinning while she's warming her hands around her take-away polystyrene.

Shizuo smiles to himself, trying to remind himself that he was still on the job. He was supposed to be composed.

A sharp yelp suddenly draws Shizuo's attention. When he looks over, he's on his knee as soon as he spots her. "Are you alright?" he says his voice sounding thick.

She doesn't answer, she just nods tightly. Her hand's around her ankle, her polystyrene lying up-turned somewhere out of her reach. "I think I dropped my cappuccino," she finally says, using both her hands as a lever to push herself up to her feet.

He reaches forwards to help her, but she's up before he even could.

She's got a blank expression on her face as they keep walking, smiling and nodding whenever Shizuo strikes up a conversation. At block four he hails a cab, not really bothering to explain why.

"Where do you live?" Shizuo asks her when she doesn't answer the cab driver.

She clears her throat, answers and returns to her upright, uptight sitting position.

Shizuo opens his mouth to ask, but stays silent when he spots her ankle. "Uh, Takeda, next left," he says.

"Whoa -My house is just up front," she says.

He notices the pained frown on her face, wonders how long it had been there. "And stop right here," he says after a pause, "I think you need that looked at."

She starts openly frowning, "Need _what _looked at?" she snaps. Her smile doesn't appear this time.

"Your ankle, I think you seriously sprained it," he says, climbing out of the cab and walking over to her side, opening the door for her, "Let's go."

"I'm _not _letting some _quack _look at something that I can fix for myself," she says, crossing her arms and shuffling herself deeper into the seat.

"Don't be so stubborn," Shizuo says and holds out his hand, "I'll come with you."

"I'm not being stubborn, and you're not coming with me…. 'cause I'm not going, " she says, "I'm going to leave without you if you won't get in the cab."

"You're right," he says and sighs. He drops his hand to his side and gives up a surrendering smile.

"Thank yYOOOUUU!?" she starts up a scream when he unexpectedly reaches into the cab and picks her up. He simply ignores her fighting and grumbles until she finally calmed down a few yards on, "Feel better now?"

"Don't be so smug," she says and tries hard to hide her impending smile, "I would've had it checked out on my own."

"Are you kidding me? You would've kept right on dancing if I had left you to it," he countered, grinning when the reaction on her face told him that he just struck gold.

"…. Maybe…"

Twenty minutes waiting in the lounge area before finally getting called into to register before getting checked out.

The young woman smiles in spite of herself when she sees Shizuo's concentrated expression has he starts filling out the form for her.

"Are you allergic to anything?" he says and glances at her.

"Sour jelly beans, carrot cake, tangerines…"

"Not your favourite foods," Shizuo says with an exasperated sigh.

"Aww, I didn't know you noticed!" she grins, but her grin quickly fades and her hand shoots to her ankle, "… no… no allergies"

"Alright, you can just sign there and I'll hand it to the nurse," he says and hands her the paper and the magazine he's been using as a makeshift-table.

"I could've just filled it in myself," she says tiredly, but signs and hands him back the papers, "But… thanks…"

When he finally gets back to the lounge though, she's missing.

"Rin? _RIN!?"_ he calls, checking the cafeteria, outside and even in the closest wards. Nothing.

But then…

"Hey." He says and slowly opens the door of the restroom, when he doesn't spot her immediately, he keeps following the sound to the stall at the far-end of the room. She's obviously been using her jacket to muffle the sound.

"Rin?" he calls again and crouches down by the door and knocks, "Are you okay? Can I come in?". He feels a bit awkward, this being the first time in the _ladies' room _and all, but he's glad it's not at all like he'd expected. There were no manicure-stations, hairstylists or dessert tables in the bathroom like Izaya had once said. Damn flea drilling those idiotic fantasies in Shizuo's brain... think about it now, the blonde couldn't help but wonder how he'd managed to keep thinking all those stupid ideas all these years... It's all that damned flea's fault.

Shizuo slowly walks over.

She's sitting on the floor, he can see. Her one leg's awkwardly resting on top of the other, the angry bruise clearly visible even in the dim light. "I'm alright, you can go home."

_"I'm not going home."_ He answers instantly.

"I'm going to be here a while," she insists. He can hear her sniffing.

He finds his handkerchief tucked away in his jacket pocket and shakes it out to unfold it before handing it to her, "Here."

A small 'hm' is the thanks he gets as she takes the item.

"Is it really painful?" he asks, knowing that sometimes talking about it makes it feel better.

"… kind of…" she says, and he knows that means, '_Yes. A lot_.'

"Can you please unlock the door?" he says, and waits patiently for the soft click.

"It's open."

He's prepared for it, when he opens the door, but when he sees her… he knows he wasn't prepared enough. His throat tightens at the sight and he sits down opposite her, resting his back on the adjacent wall.

She's still hiding her face in her jacket, but when he touches her arm, she looks up. Her face is bright red, dampness just visible around her eyes, but the expression devoid of any emotion is plastered on her face. If she had make-up on, he probably wouldn't have noticed that she'd been crying.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"The nurse says they're ready for you… if you're up to it."

A long sigh fills the silence. "I don't want to go…" she whispers, dropping her head back down to her jacket.

"Why not?"

A strained chuckle escapes her mouth before she even has a chance to stop it, somehow the involuntary reaction made the situation worse. The emotionless expression from before suddenly melted away and left a raw, hurt emotion in its place. She looks like she's about to start crying again, "You wouldn't understand…"

He frowns, seeing her like this is scaring him more than he ever thought possible, "Try me."

A streak of defiance flashes in her eyes when she meets his blue orbs again, but when she doesn't find the sarcasm or contest she expected, her gaze softens again. "If I go… these people know what they're talking about… I mean… they trained for this since, forever… and, if they say I won't be… b-be able to -" she stops and a hurt sob escapes her again, "If they say I won't be able to dance again? … if they say that… it means… what if they're right, then?"

The young blonde is a bit confused though. He's sure they'll do everything they could to help her, so what was the problem?

She sighs and slams her head backwards into the wall of the stall in frustration, "If I just keep dancing… I can just go home and rest for a bit… I'll be able to ignore i-it… and … I'll dance again… bu-t if they tell me I can't… I don't think I'll be able to do the same…"

He nods, though it kind of escapes him still. But, nonetheless he nods. He knows she needs the support right now.

"I know it's stupid…"

And then, it finally hits him. "No, it's not…" he answers and smiles. He understands.

He understands that she figures, since both she and the doctors have been at their careers for so long... they're experts at the field and the best to get reliable and truthful answers from in that area. If she trusts her own judgement in dance so explicitly, she'll trust another professional's help just as much. She probably feels that, even if whatever the guy says isn't the truth, she's afraid she'll believe it whole-heartedly and her body will just quite on its own accord.

"Tell me something…"

"Yeah?" she answers and dries her eyes again with Shizuo's handkerchief. She smiles sheepishly when she buries the item in her sleeve for the time being, promising to return it after a mandatory-wash.

Somehow, that made up his mind for what he was about to do for her.

He switches his phone's music player on and plays the song she'd sent to his phone a few days ago, "Tell me what you can do with this song?"

"What do you mean?" she's annoyed, but he smiles and carries on anyway.

"Tell me what type of dance you'd do with this music… how you'll do it…" he explains and puts his phone down in the space between them.

The melodic classical song fills the silence of the bathroom, bringing the lilting notes to life of Liszt. The young girl seems to be moving to the steady rhythm, her face even contorting in concentration when the music hits high notes and her face softening with a smile on the sway of the music. "Maybe… a _port de bras_ in the beginning, a _pas de valse_ with slow _chaines_ around the stage-"

He keeps smiling like knows what she's talking about, but it's all going right over his head. All he knows is, right now, she's calm again... she's smiling again.. and that's good enough for him to be happy about too.

" and then… _temps lie_ when you come out of the turning-sequence and- " she suddenly grimaces when her leg twitches involuntarily at the preparation of a non-existing movement.

Her eyes open, but before that spark can dissipate, Shizuo interrupts her thoughts: "See? You won't ever be able to stop dancing… _even if you wanted to_…"

And then, for the first time in years, she let someone hold her as she cried.

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><p><strong><em>Thanks for reading!<em>**

I really want to thank StolenWings, deadaleta and especially biancastefani for their amazing reviews that inspired me to keep writing. This chapter was for you!


	5. Rond de Situation

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara/DRRR! or any of its related characters or themes.

Aww, thank you to all my reviewers for this fic series so far! I really appreciate all your support and help! I hope you'll like this next chapter

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><p>.<p>

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_**Rond de Situation**_

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"Alright, you need to put pressure on your foot so we can see how bad the damage is, okay?" the nurse instructs from behind the lead window.

"Hmm…" Rin replies, clenching her teeth as she slowly lowers pressure back on her right ankle, holding onto Shizuo for support.

"Mr. Heiwajima?" the nurse calls from behind the screen, motioning for him to join her, "I need to take the scan now."

"So? Take it," he says and grabs Rin's elbow when she falters a bit on the scanning board.

"Sir, it's for your own safety. Radiation is dangerous when exposed to repeatedly," the nurse states, her tone unchanging.

'Considering how many x-rays I got as a kid, the damage's already done,' he thinks morbidly, but answers: "Well, in that case, I'm cooked anyway. Take the scan."

"Shizuo, please?" it's Rin tugging on him now, "It's just for a few seconds, I'm not going to run away."

"That's not what I was worried about," he says with a deadpan tone but grudgingly listens when she prods him.

When Shizuo's behind the lead wall and the scan's being taken, he still has full view of her face. She's still in pain. He can tell. It's not showing on her face, but the plain lack of expressions' tipping him off. He's just about to forgo hospital 'policies' when his cellphone starts ringing.

"There are no cellphones allowed in this area of the hospital," the nurse snaps and immediately ushers him outside.

"Shizuo? Hey-" he can hear Rin calling, but that follows with the nurse telling the young woman that he'll be waiting for her outside.

Taking that as his cue, Shizuo answers his phone as he walks to the waiting area, "Yeah?"

"Are you done yet? You need a ride back to the restaurant or something?" it's Tom on the phone.

'Oh right… I was just supposed to escort her back home… then all this happened…' Shizuo sighs and silently wishes -not for the first time- that he could smoke in a hospital, "No, I'm still busy."

There was silence on the other end for a good while, before a cheeky, "OOOOHHHH" came from the shark.

"What? We're at the hospital at the moment," Shizuo says.

That wasn't exactly news, although, Tom knows Shizuo would rather visit Shinra instead of hospitals if he could help it. But, Shizuo's not exactly a stranger to hospitals at all. So, Tom doesn't ask about the location, he just carries on with the conversation as if he didn't hear it at all, "Will you be able to make it to downtown tonight? I could always call-"

"-no… that's…" Shizuo's mind suddenly flits to Rin and he hesitates. 'What if I leave? What if she's really hurt and she needs to go into surgery?' he pauses in his thoughts and shakes his head. It crosses his mind that she only sees him as her bodyguard or escort. Not a friend. Nothing more. He hopes that _that_'s not the truth… but still…

When Rin's head suddenly pops around the corner, he jumps. "I was worried you ran off…" she smiles sadly and tries her best not to limp as she heads to the nearest chair.

"I think I should call you back," blonde says, but Rin shakes her head to let him know he doesn't have to hang up, "Hm?"

"Is that Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you need to work?"

"There's a job downtown, but-"

"No, no. Go. I'm fine here," Rin says, a strangely sunny smile appearing on her face.

"Waahh—is _Rin in the hospital?! What happened? Is she hurt?!_" Tom's shouting can be heard clearly over the receiver.

"I'm fine, Tom. It's just a sprain!" Rin calls back and grins at Shizuo's glare before asking all innocently, "_What?"_

"You can stay, Shizuo. I'll call the other guys to help out," Tom says, his voice ramped up to shouting any longer.

Hearing the mumbling from the phone, Shizuo finally lifted it back to his ear, "Sorry, what was that?"

Tanaka repeats patiently and chalks it up to his friend finally having a crush. _Finally._

"Are you sure?" Shizuo asks and checks Rin over again. He'd be hard-pressed to leave her right now, but this is the first stable job he's ever had and he _really _didn't want to lose it again. Not after he disappointed Kasuka so badly with losing his bartender job.

A quick affirmation and a 'get well' finished up the boss-employee conversation. It was still strange to have a boss that _actually cared. _

"So… it's just a sprain?" he says, trying to sound as hopeful as possible. He can't pull it off though, not when he starts recognizing the fake smile she puts on that seems to fool everyone else but him.

"I guess… don't actually _know_…" she says carefully, brushing a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear, "the x-rays haven't come back yet."

"Then what's taking them SO LONG?!" he shouts, a bit louder than he expected.

"It's in the lab. You can't rush through the evaluation…" she says and frowns when she spots him clenching his fists.

"YOU PEOPLE LET US WAIT HERE FOR HALF AN HOUR WHEN THERE'S NOT EVEN A SINGLE PERSON AHEAD OF US AND NOW? YOU STILL DON'T HAVE HER RESULTS READY?! WHAT IN THE HELL CAN BE TAKING SO LONG?!" he grabs hold of the desk, splintering the countertop.

Both nurses behind the desk jump back, almost falling out of their desk-chairs.

"Shizuo, would you mind…" Rin starts getting up from her chair, intentionally stepping on her foot to let him see _just _how painful it still is… intentionally drawing his attention away from probably demolishing the entire x-ray department.

In an instant he's at her side and slides his arm under her shoulders to support her, "Where do you want to go?" he asks in his worried tone.

"What about a nice _stroll _around Ikebukuro?"

She groans when she hears the man's voice. Shizuo just growls instead.

"Don't you have other people to harass?" Rin snaps, suddenly considering how far and accurate she can throw her shoe.

"Not at the moment. I'm waiting for the players to make the next move," Izaya grins, jamming his hands in his pocket.

"Get lost, flea. You're contaminating the hospital!" Shizuo snarls and momentarily forgets to act like Rin's crutch, until he hears her uncomfortable gasp.

"Now, now, I'm just passing by…" Izaya says and steps to the side to let the Black Rider pass by, "And checking up on my deliveries."

Rin's heard about the Black Rider, even seen her a few times… but it was still a bit of a shock. Rin instinctively clutches Shizuo's jacket, swallowing hard.

"Hey, Celty…" and then, Shizuo's calm familiarity to Celty somehow calmed Rin down too, "Working with _that-_" he jerks his head towards Izaya before continuing, "piece of shit for today?"

Celty types on her phone for a few seconds before holding the screen out towards Shizuo. "_Yeah. Just a simple delivery, good cash though" _and then, a few seconds later, "_Who's this? That girl you were talking about?"_

And that managed to tint both Shizuo and Rin's cheeks as they read the text.

"Yeah… this is Rin Ogata…" Shizuo says and smiles softly.

"_The dancer?_" read Celty's text.

"Yeah," Shizuo says, but his smile melts away when he spots Rin glaring at her injured leg again. He frowns again.

Izaya suddenly looks over to Rin and tilts his head, "Hmmm? What happened to you?" he stares at her for a few seconds before grinning, "Slipped on some cappuccino or something?"

And that was that. That simple, pin-point comment, triggered some detonator in Shizuo's brain. "IT WAS YOU?!" and just like that, Izaya's –literally-flying out the door with Shizuo hot on his heels. Shizuo actually _threw _Izaya out the hospital.

The 'contamination' comment Shizuo made earlier had Rin smiling though and left her thinking now '_Well, at least the hospital isn't contaminated by Izaya anymore_', even though she had to unexpectedly adjust her weight to her left foot. At least Celty was there to help out.

"Thanks, umm… can I call you Celty?" Rin says, feeling kind of weird about having her arm over a … fairy? Is the Dark Rider a fairy or something else? Did it matter?

Celty's back on her phone again and holds out the screen for the young woman to read, "_Sure. I don't mind._"

The pair walk over to the chairs again and finally sit down.

For the first time, in what feels like an hour, Rin finally takes a deep breath. She slowly stretches out her legs and flinches when her right ankle sends a spark of pain through her, "Ugghhh…"

"_What happened?_" another text.

"I fell for coffee," Rin over-acts a love-sick impression and finally shakes her head.

A soft shake of her shoulders let Rin know that Celty was laughing too.

"So… you and Shizuo…. Are you-"

"_We're really good friends_"

"How long have you known him?"

"_For about ten years or so… _"

"That's a long time," Rin says and suddenly feels the strange pull of jealousy at Celty's words.

"_You really like him, don't you?_"

And then, Rin's smile reappears. It's almost as if, for a second, she's forgotten the pain she's in or the situation she's in. It's like sunshine through a storm. "… Yeah…" she says and giggles for a second, "… I think I do."

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><p><em><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! Please drop me a review )<strong>_


	6. Adagio

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara/DRRR! or any of its related characters or themes.

Aww, thank you to all my reviewers for this fic series so far! I really appreciate all your support and help! A special thanks to deadaleta, StolenWings and biancastefani! You're amazing! I love this series so much, and I'm loving that you enjoy it too!

_AN1: Adagio: Slow and steady movements..._

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><p>.<p>

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_**Adagio**_

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"I hate this thing," Rin snaps and tries –and fails- to adjust the position of her ankle in moonboot the doctors had given her. She smiles when she finally looks back at Shizuo's face, "Won't it just be easier if you could just detach part of your body and replace it with a new part?"

The joke makes him smile. They keep walking, "Yeah…"

It was the first time in a week she got outside, having effectively checked-out. Two surgeries to realign the bones and that's all they assured her they could do for now. Several of her tarsal bones in her ankle had been broken, but luckily none of the breaks were complicated by nicked arteries or protrusion.

After her second operation, as soon as she woke up that following morning, Rin called the nurse in to check-out. Unfortunately, Shizuo visited just as the AMA-papers arrived –strangely coincidental- and he 'accidently' tore it up. Whoops, followed by a grin.

And, let's face it, being cooped up in a hospital bed, your leg dangling from a sling and not being able to move –sucked. It got worse when the nurses started flirting with the blonde-haired man. Of course, that entertained the nurses even more, to see Rin's flailing about whenever Shizuo's being hit on. The worst part? Shizuo didn't even seem to notice… or maybe he did, and Rin's acting ability was rubbing off on him.

Yeah… that's it.

"They gave me some morphine for the pain… I don't actually feel a thing," she says and grimaces at the crutches, "I won't be able to waltz exactly with these stilts…but, would you mind if we went for a walk…?"

"Sure," he says and glances at his cellphone's clock, "I just need to get back before ten."

'At ten… gives us about forty minutes…' she says as she glances at her own watch. "Another job?" she says and doesn't miss how naturally Shizuo slowed down his usual pace to accommodate her.

"Yeah. Tom's had to write off so many bad debts this year… we have to collect as soon as possible," Shizuo says and takes out a cigarette, "You mind?"

"I just got out of hospital!" Rin protests with teary pout and grins when he starts to replace it in the pack, "I was kidding. I told you it doesn't bother me, didn't I?"

"You enjoy this, don't you?" he shakes his head and finally lights up, they keep walking.

It hasn't been too long since they started strolling around the city when they hear the noise. A strange roar fills the air, a mix between a horse whinny and a motorcycle's rev. The Black Rider flies through the streets and weaves in and out of traffic without even slowing down.

"Hey… it's Celty…" Shizuo waves before Rin even has a chance to spot her.

"Wow, I didn't even see her…" the young woman says and the memory of her own and Celty's last –and first ever- conversation filled her mind. Which, in turn, caused her cheeks to burn bright red.

"She works as a transporter… " he says and chuckles a bit to himself, "A _vigilante_ transporter… she does odd deliveries all over the district, so it's rare to actually see her around without calling to meet with her."

The weird pang of jealousy's back, but this time Rin just sighs and accepts it. Being friends with Shizuo meant a lot more to her than some strange crush that was brewing. She smiles, because it's probably not a crush at all.

They kept walking, slowly making their way around Ikebukuro. It was a pretty cool day, literally. Several clouds sailed lazily across the sky and slow wisps of wind blew. It's been a while since the city's been this quiet. No heat waves. No painfully slow traffic-jams. No Izaya.

Shizuo's phone starts pinging, letting them know their time was up. He sighs.

"I guess it's time," she says and she suddenly notices the stitch of pain shooting through her leg. All the walking was obviously the cause, but she realized the truth. Somehow… Shizuo works like a pain-killer.

"What about I cook dinner for you?" she suggests and tilts her head, "Yeah?"

Shizuo grins and hails a cab but before he could even answer, he spotted the victorious expression on her face.

"… done deal!" she grins and nudges him on the shoulder, "I'll see you later?"

"Sure."

The cab arrives and Shizuo helps her inside, smiling and waving once the cab finally drives off. He couldn't help but wave a little longer than he needed. And he kept smiling.

… When she finally arrives at her apartment block and pays the driver. It was a bit of struggle to get out of the cab, but the cabby also helped her with the crutches and shook his head with a grin when she almost fell over sideways. "Don't trip, ne?"

"I'll try!" she grins and adjusts her crutches, "Thanks for the help."

And with that, the cab drove off and the young dancer was left to struggle on her own back to her apartment.

It was a slow walk. Crutch, swing, take a step. Crutch, swing, take a step. Crutch, crutch. She rolls her shoulders, not enjoying the stiffness in her shoulders. It takes her twice as long to even reach the courtyard.

"Tell me, Miss Ballerina, what _did _the doctors say about your condition?"

Shizuo Heiwajima's habits had to rubbing off on her, why else would she suddenly accede that crutches would make a kickass weapon if the time came and she had to defend herself from Fle- Izaya? "They say the bipolar disease will probably only recede by the time I'm fifty, but other than _that, _I'm good…" she says and smirks, "Are you here to buy lingerie for your sissy wardrobe?"

He quirks an eyebrow, the idea that _this female _figured out his double-act as Kanra online. He dismisses it after a second, even _if _she knows, she _can't _be completely sure.

"How long did they say? Three days? …" he pauses long enough to see the twitch in her eye, "… Four months?"

The same pinpoint information he had earlier. It was like he knew. It's like he orchestrated it. It wouldn't be the first.

'How can he possibly know all that information?' she wonders and finally draws her face to blank. "You know? Well, this saves me the time telling you."

"It's my job to know these things, I am an Information Broker, after all. Now, let's get on with it," he says, the strangely sincere smile on his face starts freaking her out, "What if I could make you a deal?"

"… Do I even want to ask?" she badly wants to back-off some more, but it's hard and uncomfortable to move in the crutches and the boot-contraption. She tries squaring off her shoulders, but she knows she doesn't appear as confident as all the other times they met.

"A deal, Miss Ballerina. One that can get you _en pointe_ for Giselle in _just_ over a month?" she frowns, suddenly very aware of the constricting bandages around her leg, how tight the boot is that's holding her ankle in the same position.

_Don't fall for it! _"I thought you didn't follow our Repertoire?"

"I never said I do."

_He's lying. He's just in this for himself… _"I'm not interested in any deal _you _have to offer," Rin snaps and keeps trudging forwards.

"Think about what I said, Ogata. Let me know _when_ you've changed your mind," Izaya says and lifts his chin before walking off, "Oh, just a reminder… I said _'when'_, not _'if'!"_

She stared at him for a while, watching him skip off down the avenue.

Reluctantly, possibilities flooded her mind.

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><p><em><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! Please drop me a review : )<strong>_

_**Next chapter: .. Izaya's a lot more convincing in person...**_


	7. Emboîté

**_Disclaimer: I still don't own DRRR! or Rideback! :D_**

**_To StolenWings, deadaleta and biancastefani, you always have THE best reviews ever! Thank you so much, I appreciate your support more than I can say *huggles*_**

**_Emboites aka. boxed-in._**

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><p>.<p>

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**_Emboîtés_**

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Around seven, a young blonde man was standing in front of a girls apartment, palms sweaty like he was on a first date –which he almost was- and wondering if he should be there at all.

He swallows hard before lifting his hand to knock. But pauses, he can see through the window lining the door, a silhouette moving inside.

Fluid arms moving in ripple movement, arms slowly lowering to a crossed position. A leg slowly raises then steps forwards in one smooth motion into a fondue. The other leg – boot, lifts, but suddenly all he can hear is a whimper and see the figure toppling sideways. He doesn't have to ask who it is.

Two raps to the door. _That's normal, right?_

Some shuffling was heard inside before the door finally opened.

"Hey," she smiles and opens the door. Her cheeks were blood red, but the rest of her face was pale. It almost looked like she was in pain, but it was hard to tell.

Shizuo didn't say anything though, he just pretended not to notice, "I'm not sure what time to come so…"

"You could've called?" Rin says and shuffles to the side to let him in.

"Not really…" Shizuo mumbles and retrieves a hand-full of cellphone shrapnel from his pocket, "It broke."

"I see… you tried to kill somebody with your cell?" she laughs and pokes the once pristine –now shattered- screen, "That's awesome."

"I had a run-in with that damned Flea again… he's everywhere these days… " Shizuo grumbles and starts tapping his foot against the floor, "Whatever it is… smells like shit…."

"What? she feigns a shocked look and holds her hand to her heart, "My cooking?"

"You don't fool me anymore," he grins and steps inside.

The inside of the apartment was a strange mixture of smells. Lilies, bread, and something sweet too. Strangely homely.

"Where'd you like to eat?"

"I don't care," he smiles and looks around, fascinated with the paintings that decorated the walls.

"Everything's ready in the kitchen if you'd like?" Rin says and they decide on the spot that the kitchen was the new dining area.

"You never did tell me… what did the X-rays say?" Shizuo says half an hour later, before Rin appears with the dessert.

"You ran off before I could tell you", she grins and hands him a dessert bowl of chocolate mousse.

"It was Izaya…I just know that damn flea is up to something," he growls and munches on the creamy mix.

"… it's broken… my ankle…"

He looks down at the boot, but stays silent. He knows the pain that comes with that, all to well. But he _knows _his anger at broken _anything _isn't quite the same as hers.

He was usually challenged or provoked into fights, which led to those broken bones or fractures. He didn't need mobility beyond needing it to defend himself or Kasuka.

But, she needed it for her job. And the more he knew about her… the more he knew, it wasn't just a job, dance was her life. So, he stayed silent, and let her talk.

"I somehow managed to break several of my ankle bones in that stupid fall… the radiologist told me that it was most likely stress fractures that finally caved in… I had it for months and I never knew… I just thought…"

He finally interjects, "It was a muscle strain?"

"… how'd you-"

"I broke almost every bone in my body before I turned eleven… once, the only reason I found out that I had a broken finger, was the fact the bone had nicked one of the veins and my finger turned purple…"

Her eyes widened in shock and she almost choked on the chocolate dessert, "… didn't that hurt?!"

"… I don't notice pain that easily…"

"Are you kidding me?"

"…."

"But… that's dangerous…"

"… why?"

"Well…" Rin pauses, stirring her dessert for a while before shrugging, "pain lets you know when there's something seriously wrong with you… or when you've been injured… you won't know when it's serious if you don't feel it! You can be dying and not know it!"

"What are you getting so worked up about?"

"I'm not-! It's just…" she stops and blinks, frowns and suddenly bangs her dessert bowl on the counter, "Thank you for coming…"

Shizuo decided it was best not to argue just yet. He just stood up and dropped the bowl in the sink, "Thank you… for dessert…" he says and smiles tiredly. He knows how it feels to be stuck in her position, "Look…. If I-"

"Sorry, Shizuo, I'm just… " Rin ushers him out the door and finally relents a smile, "I'm just tired…. I'll see you later, okay?"

… She's standing outside one of those warehouses, garbage lining the street and a certain man standing in front of her with a grin on his face. She sighs, "You said you had a deal for me?"

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><p><em><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>_

_**Next Chapter... the deal?**_


	8. Aplomb

_AN1: This Chapter is dedicated to the awesome StolenWings, for the amazin' reviews and support *huggles*_

_AN2: Geez, I can't believe it's taken me so long to get back to writing! I missed this so much *cries*_

_There are only ficticiously awesome ballet dancers in this fic ;)_

_Aplomb is the dance term for safety and stability..._

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**_Aplomb_**

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… She's standing outside one of those warehouses, garbage lining the street and a certain man standing in front of her with a grin on his face. She sighs, "You said you had a deal for me?"

"Did I?" he has the audacity to look confused.

"What did you mean?" she presses on, refusing to fall for his game.

"I _really _can't remember something saying that, at all…"

"I didn't come here to waste time, Orihara," Rin finally snaps, frowning deeply at her own impatient tone.

"And I honestly don't understand why you think I am wasting your time."

"…"

Izaya shrugs with a smile and shoves his hands in his pocket, "What are you looking for?"

"Yuki Takeda, she…"

"What…? Oh, you couldn't _possibly _be talking about THE Yuki Takeda, the principal of the Royal Theatre, right?… Who broke her ankle during a faulty landing during her Pas de Deux with a new partner…. Who then underwent a non- FDA approved, _illegal, _treatment… which got her back to dancing within a month?" he grins and finally drags his cellphone from his pocket, flips it open and starts typing way, "_THAT _Yuki Takeda?"

"Stop screwing around, Izaya. I also know she died seven months later of a cardiovascular failure…"

His eyes meets hers and this time he keeps the focus, "Then what do you want, Miss Ballerina?"

"I want to get this fixed as soon as possible, without getting _a Death Note_ sentence."

"Oh….?" he says, grinning at the mention of the past year's popular manga, and lowers his cellphone for a moment, "You're looking for the newest Elixer drug, right?".

His smile's victorious and it makes her sick to her stomach.

"I'll call my supplier," he says and starts texting again, as if they hadn't just been dealing with anything illegal. As if this were a normal night out. It probably was, for him.

"How much do you want for it?"

"I didn't say it would cost you anything"

"I know your reputation well enough to know you won't just give this to me out of the good graces of your heart…" she says and starts shuffling around nervously. She _hates _this. She hates him… and now, HE'S the one holding the Aces.

"How do you know I didn't just turn over a new leaf?" he actually clutches his hands together in a display of innocence… until his mocking façade is up and running again and he's got his hands on his hips, "Fine, fine… you'll just owe me a favour… that's all."

"If I didn't see how messed up all your favours turned the people I know… I might've accepted"

"I promise it won't be anything illegal or against your absurd moral code," he holds his left hand in the air in a sardonic fashion.

"… Tell me how it works," she decides to change the subject before she follows her own better judgement.

"Well, first you'll undergo about three or four surgeries with a good friend of mine, then you'll be injected with all kinds of wonderfully illegal drugs that speeds up your metabolism and healing by an absurd rate… then… well, then, right before you get your last operation… I get to cash in on the teeny tiny little favour you owe me."

"So, you'll blackmail me into finishing the deal. That way, no matter what, I don't have any way to back out, am I right? You'll use that last surgery as the rope that'll hang me," she says and snorts in disbelief of his actions.

"Are you always so poetic, or is it a quality I inspire in you?"

"… I changed my mind… "

"… Oh well! … Just remember, this deal won't last forever. The body heals itself within six weeks of injury, and for a dancer… well… if your bones don't heal _exactly _in perfect alignment, you'll never be able to dance like you used to," he mumbles and watches the night sky.

Not that there _was _a night sky, it was downtown after all. There was smog, airplanes and streetlights.

"Just shu-"

"Oh and, just out of curiosity, is that little statistic I heard about right…? The one that if you don't return to work within three weeks of injury when it's performing season, you're out of a job… Tell me, what IS the job vacancy rate with dancers these days, _especially _with dancers with such a poor performing rate the past few years?"

She knows he's right. It's only since she met Shizuo when things started to change for her. It's only then when she started to feel happy again, free again. It's only when she met him, that she felt open enough to really _talk _to anyone again. It's been years. It showed.

Rin looks in the direction of her apartment, which was clear across town now. Where she left Shizuo standing. Because she couldn't stand _not _being herself again. She couldn't stand not being the girl that Shizuo started to get to know… until she lost what made her who she is. How could Shizuo ever know who she really is without …

"You have a deal."

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_And the plot thickens O.o... I'll try to update ASAP!_


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